InsaneJournal

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Edward Peregrine (empty_chairs) wrote in doors,
@ 2013-02-08 17:22:00

Entry tags:

cosette, fantine, javert, marius, quasimodo

[public]
Paris is as I left her, I think. They say Rome's the eternal city, but I think Paris might have a claim to the title. She changes completely, and nothing ever really changes. It makes anyone question revolution -- how much can it really achieve when everything remains so much the same? Revolution ought to bring redemption, not greater suffering and poverty. Is there no society that can genuinely sustain the common good? Or are we all doomed to search endlessly for Utopias and find their names fitting -- nowhere.

I am a terrible radical. But an equally terrible law student. At least my German and my English are good (let us not speak of Latin or Greek)? Those are perhaps the most useful skills I possess, sadly. I should find my books and try to apply myself to my studies. The cafés are quiet today. Some wine and bread might ease my mind.

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	bluelion 2013-02-08 10:40 pm UTC (link)
	I have always found comfort in a quiet song or aimless sketch, though it seems your heart lies elsewhere, monsieur. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	empty_chairs 2013-02-08 10:43 pm UTC (link)
	I have little talent for drawing or music, those are lovely arts best left to delicate hands, which mine are not. My grandfather often said a man's worth lies in knowing his limitations, and I am aware of mine! (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	bluelion 2013-02-08 10:45 pm UTC (link)
	Your grand-père sounds like a wise man, and he is correct in most cases. I believe my Papa is quite the exception to the former. He has a lovely voice when I can coax a song from his lips. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	empty_chairs 2013-02-08 10:55 pm UTC (link)
	I don't know about wisdom. He was certainly formidable, and that's a virtue of its own, I suppose. Am I mistaken in thinking I might know such a delicate hand, mademoiselle? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	bluelion 2013-02-08 11:10 pm UTC (link)
	He has not advised you well? [...] I am not certain, monsieur. I have been acquainted with no one in this beautiful city. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

empty_chairs
2013-02-08 11:41 pm UTC (link)

He advised me in his own fashion, with his own beliefs about my goals and fortunes, as well as to what would be to my benefit. But that is often the way of parents and guardians. They make their choices about our fortunes based on their own hopes, and sometimes, they're for the best, and sometimes not.

Sadly. I had hoped to make acquaintance once more with a lovely girl I met, and about whom I feel quite fond.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	bluelion 2013-02-09 12:29 am UTC (link)
	That is a Papa's, or in your case Grand-Père's, job, is it not? I hope that you find only success, monsieur, in all of your endeavors. [...] Where did you meet this lovely girl, if I might be so bold? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	empty_chairs 2013-02-09 12:37 am UTC (link)
	In the park, mademoiselle. I'd seen her a few times before an unfortunate chance encounter left us knowing each other better, but still less acquainted than I would like. She is a respectable girl, a beautiful girl, and I would not damage her reputation by speaking of her more openly. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	bluelion 2013-02-09 12:45 am UTC (link)
	[There is a significant pause, as she recalls the handsome man she'd seen in the park on numerous occasions.] Perhaps you might see her again soon. The park is a frequent destination for young, respectable women to take in the fresh air. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	empty_chairs 2013-02-09 01:31 am UTC (link)
	I can only hope to be so very fortunate, mademoiselle. She is a young lady of great quality, and I would be so very happy to see her again. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	bluelion 2013-02-09 01:34 am UTC (link)
	She sounds like she is quite the mademoiselle. I wish you luck, monsieur. I would advise you might try the park tomorrow afternoon. It seems the most opportune time. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	empty_chairs 2013-02-09 01:40 am UTC (link)
	You wouldn't happen to know if mademoiselles would be walking today in the park, now would you? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	bluelion 2013-02-09 01:45 am UTC (link)
	[She quickly confers with her lady in waiting.] I know that many a mademoiselle are known to take walks in the park just before suppertime. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	empty_chairs 2013-02-09 01:51 am UTC (link)
	Then I hope I will be very fortunate and see the lady I have in mind this evening. Thank you, mademoiselle, you've been very kind. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	bluelion 2013-02-09 01:58 am UTC (link)
	I hope for your good fortune as well, monsieur. It has been a pleasure conversing with you. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	empty_chairs 2013-02-09 02:06 am UTC (link)
	It has been a delight conversing with you, too, mademoiselle. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	ex_ideals961 2013-02-09 02:55 am UTC (link)
	[After seeing the above conversation.] ~~The sooner she makes a good match, the better.~~ [Not posted.] (Reply to this)

	isnotmocked 2013-02-09 04:13 am UTC (link)
	A radical, monsieur? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	empty_chairs 2013-02-09 04:35 am UTC (link)
	Only a very poor one. A believer in Utopias, monsieur, and nothing else. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	isnotmocked 2013-02-10 06:19 am UTC (link)
	Be sure it remains that way. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	empty_chairs 2013-02-10 06:25 am UTC (link)
	I am most certain, Monsieur Inspecteur, that you will be amongst the first to know should that ever change. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	anatkh 2013-02-09 07:01 am UTC (link)
	[As Quasimodo. In a careful, jagged pen.] It has been some years since I was last in Paris. You speak of revolution - has there been a revolution since I left it? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	empty_chairs 2013-02-09 07:44 pm UTC (link)
	It depends on when you left it, monsieur. There was the Revolution of 1789, the Republic, the Empire, and the Bourbon Restoration. And the Revolution of 1830. But there is a king on the throne of France, if that is any clarification for you, Louis-Philippe. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	anatkh 2013-02-10 01:57 am UTC (link)
	No, I left Paris behind long before that time. I never knew a revolution in the city. You suggest that it was not a success, however. What was the goal? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

empty_chairs
2013-02-10 02:04 am UTC (link)

A complicated question! (But I am a law student, and all questions are complicated.)

The Revolution of 1789 meant to depose the king and remedy the abuses of the crown against the people. The Republic meant to impose a society in which all Frenchmen were brothers, citizens, with equal access to justice and liberty. The Empire meant to bring the ideals of the Revolution to the whole of Europe, and to restore order to the chaos of the Republic. The Restoration sought to put a rightful Bourbon king on the throne. The Revolution of 1830 sought to end hereditary right and bring about popular sovereignty. Whether any of these things achieved justice and change, it's hard to say. People died, many people died. The king and queen and many aristocrats were executed after the Revolution of 1789. The Church lost power and regained it again. The ideas of brotherhood and justice and equality evaporated. The poor are still poor. The rich are still rich. And the law is still absolute. I do not know if any of them really succeeded in doing anything other than changing who was in power and who they promised benefits to.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	anatkh 2013-02-10 06:01 am UTC (link)
	[...] It is an erroneous desire, this revolution. To make all men equal is impossible. Some men will always be above others, that is the way the world orders itself. It is a noble thing to wish for, but it does not surprise me that a king returned to France. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

empty_chairs
2013-02-10 06:27 am UTC (link)

I don't think we can make men equal. But I think we can give them equal footing before the law, and equal chances at dignity and a life worth living. Either law applies to all men, or it is meaningless. Either law is universal, or it is a farce. And perhaps someday, we'll see a bloodless revolution in which this truth becomes as self-evident to all men as it is to the wild dreamers.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	anatkh 2013-02-10 06:29 am UTC (link)
	It is a beautiful sentiment. I wish I could believe that it were more. But I admire it. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	empty_chairs 2013-02-10 06:31 am UTC (link)
	Some men live it, monsieur. Or try to. I try to. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	anatkh 2013-02-10 06:32 am UTC (link)
	What is the nature of your birth? I do not know if that is an indelicate question. I do not know much in the way of manners. Hopefully, it is not. I only wish to sate my curiosity. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	empty_chairs 2013-02-10 06:35 am UTC (link)
	Bourgeoisie, I suppose. My father served with some distinction in Napoleon's army, and my family had means enough to send me to university. The means are not great, but they are sufficient. So the nature of my birth is fortunate. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	anatkh 2013-02-10 06:37 am UTC (link)
	I do not know Napoleon. Was he a king? And you say that, even as one with fortunate prospects in life, you do not turn your face away when you see a cripple in the street? A fallen woman? You wish them to stand on equal footing with yourself? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	empty_chairs 2013-02-10 06:40 am UTC (link)
	Emperor of France. Before the king was restored. I do. Because the law should be no respecter of persons. Because no man should starve because of a misfortune of birth, no woman should suffer because of injustices inflicted upon her. We are all made of dust and tears, in the end. But I am a dreamer, and I read too much philosophy as a boy. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	anatkh 2013-02-10 07:02 am UTC (link)
	It dizzies the mind, all the strange things that have yet to happen. Would that the world were made up of more dreamers such as yourself, many would not be forced to live as they do. (Reply to this) (Parent)